Subsidise agriculture: ChautalaChandigarh, December 21
The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has described the recommendation of the Kelkar Committee regarding imposition of income tax on the agricultural sector as
detrimental to the interests of the farming community.

Cong
ridicules Chautala’s claimChandigarh, December 21The Haryana Congress has reacted sharply to a claim made
by the State Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, at a sammelan of
panches and sarpanches held at Fatehabad that he would remain in power
for his entire life.

Cong workers stage dharnaKarnal, December 21
Members of the District Congress Committee led by its president Suresh Gupta today staged a dharna at the committee chowk to protest against policies of the state government.

Life term for serial girl killerJhajjar, December 21
A fast track court in Bahadurgarh
district yesterday awarded life imprisonment to Satish the accused in
the serial girl killer case.
The court judge, Mr D.D. Yadav
sentenced the main accused Satish to life imprisonment on the charges
of rape and murder of two girls in 1995 and 1997.

HAU signs trade pact with NRDCHisar, December 21
Taking the initiative in the direction of commercialisation of farm technology, CCS Haryana Agricultural
University has signed a memorandum of agreement with National Research Development Corporation.

Lok Adalats a success: judgeJagadhri, December 21
Mr Justice V.K. Bali, Judge, Punjab and Haryana High Court and Executive Chairman of the Hayana State Legal Services Authority, while talking to newsmen here today informed that Haryana and Punjab had taken the lead in disposing of pending cases, and the lok adalat concept had become popular in the country.

Stories from Haryana towns falling in the
National Capital Region are put in NCR Tribune.

Ambala, December 21
The Additional Sessions Judge, Mr S.K. Kaushik, adjourned the hearing on the bail application of a former BKU president, Mr Ghasi Ram
Nain, and 13 others till January 3, here today. On a request of the state, the bail application of Mr Nain and others was transferred to this court from the court of
ADJ, Mr M.M. Sharma, on December 19 and it was to be heard today.

Need to check foeticideKurukshetra, December 21
Mr S.P. Sharma, Commissioner and Secretary, Women and Child Development, has called upon voluntary and social organisations, teachers and students to wage a crusade against female foeticide which was creating an imbalance in the sex ratio.

Bail for Duleena accusedJhajjar, December 21
One of the main accused in the Dalits lynching case has been granted an anticipatory bail by the Jhajjar Additional Sessions Court. According to information, Additional Sessions Judge Deewan Chand yesterday granted anticipatory bail to Ranbir
Malhan, one of the main accused in the lynching of five dalits at Duleena in Jhajjar district on October 15 last.

School dropout inventor brings laurelsAmbala, December 21
Mr Prem Singh Saini, an inventor from Pasiala village was recently honoured by the President of India, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The honour holds greater significance since Mr Prem Singh is a school dropout.

VC’s stress on IT orientation coursesKurukshetra, December 21
The Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Mr R.S. Chaudhry, underlined the need for holding orientation courses in information technology for teachers. Mr Chaudhry was speaking at the valedictory function of the UGC sponsored orientation course being organised by Academic Staff College of the university.

School’s cultural programmeAmbala December 21
The third Cantonment Board School’s cultural meet, Utsav- 2002, began at Kharga Auditorium here yesterday.The meet was inaugurated by Lieut-Gen S.S. Mehta, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command. Speaking on the occasion, General Mehta emphasised the importance of education in building a strong nation.

Roadways workers to hold protestChandigarh, December 21
The Haryana Roadways Workers Union, affiliated with the Sarv Karamchari Sangh, will observe “Protest Day” on December 23 by organising a rally at Rohtak. Stating this here today the President of the Chandigarh unit of the union, Mr Lal Chand, alleged that the government was not implementing demands of employees it had already accepted.

CICR kit to check Bt
cottonseedSirsa, December 21
The Central Institute of Cotton Research, Nagpur, has developed a kit to check Bt cottonseed. This was disclosed by the institute’s Director, Dr C.D. Mayee, here today. He was here to address a kisan seminar on the CICR regional
station.

Path for Dabwali victims
startsSirsa, December 21
December 23 brings memories of a traumatic accident for hundreds of people of
Dabwali. The fumes of the Rajeev Marriage Palace fire tragedy that occurred seven years ago still rise in their
hearts.

Chandigarh, December 21
The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has described the recommendation of the Kelkar Committee regarding imposition of income tax on the agricultural sector as
detrimental to the interests of the farming community.

Speaking at the 50th meeting of the National Development Council in New Delhi today, Mr Chautala said due to the efforts of the farmers now India was not only self-sufficient in the production of foodgrains’ but was also in a position to export these. The foreign exchange, which was earlier spent on import of foodgrains, was now being used for the development of the country.

He said those who had made such a recommendation were not aware that the farmers could barely meet their production cost and did not have a fixed income. He said in view of the WTO, it was the need of the hour to subsidise the agricultural sector rather than put an additional tax burden on it.

Mr Chautala said the Centre should realise the Rs 1,20,000-crore advanced to big industrialists as loan and utilise the same for providing adequate drought relief to the farmers. He said the drought relief being given from the Emergency Relief Fund was insufficient. It should be raised from Rs 1,000 per hectare to Rs 2,000.

Referring to the SYL canal, Mr Chautala urged the Centre to take up its construction in view of the negative statements being given by the Punjab Chief Minister. He said the deadline fixed by the Supreme Court for the completion of the canal would expire after 24 days.

He urged the Centre to fix the minimum support price of sugarcane while keeping in view the production cost, which came to be Rs 90 per quintal. He said the Union Government should continue with the present system of procurement because otherwise the national food security would be jeopardised. The Centre should also launch a special campaign for constructing warehouses in a big way, especially in major foodgrain producing states.

He said his government would strive to achieve the growth rates stipulated by the Planning Commission for various sectors.

Chandigarh, December 21
The Haryana Congress has reacted sharply to a claim made by the State Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, at a sammelan of panches and sarpanches held at Fatehabad that he would remain in power for his entire life.

In
a statement issued here today a spokesman of the Haryana Congress, Mr
Krishan Murti Hooda, said Mr Chautala’s statement was not only
undemocratic but ridiculous also. He said Mr Chautala had been
frustrated by the growing popularity of Mr Bhajan Lal, President of
the Haryana Congress. The Congress leader alleged that the ruling INLD
was misleading the people by making false claims about the development
of the State. Instead of giving powers to Panchayati Raj institutions
as per the provisions of the Constitution, the INLD had further
curtailed their powers by promoting extra-legal gram vikas samitis and
appointing Gram Vikas Officers.

Mr Hooda alleged that because of the wrong policies of the INLD government, the industry was migrating from the State. He said Mr Chautala had not yet given any relief to the drought-hit farmers despite an announcement of a relief of Rs 3000 per acre.

Karnal, December 21
Members of the District Congress Committee led by its president Suresh Gupta today staged a dharna at the committee chowk to protest against policies of the state government. They submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner to be forwarded to the Governor.

The memorandum states that the policies of the government are anti-people. People are burdened with more taxes and not even a single promise by the INLD has been fulfilled.

It states that the toll tax on buses should be withdrawn. Plots in the newgrain markets should be allotted to traders on no-loss no profit basis. No tax should be imposed on vehicles coming from other states as is being considered.

The government should ensure that the peace of the state should not be disturbed by incidents like Dulina.
UNI

Jhajjar, December 21
A fast track court in Bahadurgarh
district yesterday awarded life imprisonment to Satish the accused in
the serial girl killer case.

The court judge, Mr D.D. Yadav
sentenced the main accused Satish to life imprisonment on the charges
of rape and murder of two girls in 1995 and 1997. He has been charged
with rape and murder of 12 girl children during 1995 to 1998. He has
been facing trial in 10 other similar cases.

The district police
arrested him on November 20, 1998.The police had arrested three others
Raju, Rambabu and Shanker, prior to his arrest. Two of them died in
jail later.

However, on investigation the three were found innocent
Satish charged with murder of 12 girls.

Hisar, December 21
Taking the initiative in the direction of commercialisation of farm technology, CCS Haryana Agricultural
University (HAU) has signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with National Research Development Corporation
(NRDC).

Under the agreement, the NRDC would help the university in the marketing of the university technologies at both the national and international levels.

The HAU Director of Research, Dr Bhim Singh Dahiya, said this move would generate funds for the university from the sale of its technology. He said the HAU had been a pioneer institution in technology generation in the fields of agriculture, veterinary, animal science, home science and basic science. Since most of its technologies were competitive, these could be commercialised, he said.
UNI

Jagadhri, December 21
Mr Justice V.K. Bali, Judge, Punjab and Haryana High Court and Executive Chairman of the Hayana State Legal Services Authority, while talking to newsmen here today informed that Haryana and Punjab had taken the lead in disposing of pending cases, and the lok adalat concept had become popular in the country.

Mr Justice Bali admitted that there was a shortfall of Judges in the high court. Against the sanctioned strength of 40, there were only 33 judges. He said that there was a shortfall of judicial officers also in the subordinate courts. He said the fast track courts had helped expedite the disposal of pending criminal cases. He also said that more than 2,46,000 cases were still pending in the high court alone.

Earlier, Mr Justice Bali inaugurated a scheduled lok adalat in the District Courts at Jagadhri. He said a lok adalat can take cognisance of not only those matters which are pending in regular courts but also those wherein the parties have not filed any case in the courts.

Mr R.S. Virk, member secretary of the Haryana State Legal Services Authority, disclosed that the authority had organised 1564 lok adalats in the state wherein 4,07,783 cases were settled by amicable settlement. These included 20,937 motor accident claim cases and wherein an amount of Rs 1,22,08,73,291 had been awarded as compensation to the accident victims.

On a request of the state, the bail application of Mr Nain and others was transferred to this court from the court of ADJ, Mr M.M. Sharma, on December 19 and it was to be heard today. Four BKU activists were granted bail by Mr Sharma on December 13.

Mr S.K. Sehagal, a counsel of Mr Nain, today filed an application in the court of Mr Kaushik requesting the court to adjourn the hearing since the senior counsel, Mr Ajay Jain, was not available due to some urgent work.

The public prosecutor, did not oppose the request of the counsel of the petitioner. The judge fixed January 3 as the next date of hearing. Courts in Ambala will remain close till January 2 for winter vacation.

Later Mr Nain and 13 other BKU leaders were produced in the court of Judicial Magistrate, Mr Jasbir Singh, who remanded them in judicial custody till January 4.

Kurukshetra, December 21
Mr S.P. Sharma, Commissioner and Secretary, Women and Child Development, has called upon voluntary and social organisations, teachers and students to wage a crusade against female foeticide which was creating an imbalance in the sex ratio.

These views were expressed by him while presiding over a meeting of social, religious and voluntary organisations called to devise methods to check the menace of foeticide.

Mr Sharma revealed that the sex ratio in Haryana was 861:1000 and at Kurukshetra it was 820:770 which was a matter of concern.

he disclosed that only 11 cases had been so far registered in the Haryana since 1994 when a law was against this practice enacted, while only 20 cases had been registered in Punjab and only two in Chandigarh.

He suggested that pressure groups be created in the matter to check the trend.

He said that Education Department had been involved in the matter and a pledge had been taken by the senior students that they would motivate people against this social evil.

Jhajjar, December 21
One of the main accused in the Dalits lynching case has been granted an anticipatory bail by the Jhajjar Additional Sessions Court. According to information, Additional Sessions Judge Deewan Chand yesterday granted anticipatory bail to Ranbir
Malhan, one of the main accused in the lynching of five dalits at Duleena in Jhajjar district on October 15 last.

So far 24 of the 32 accused identified by the police in the case have been arrested.

A Jhajjar court has issued arrest warrants against those absconding.
UNI

Ambala, December 21
Mr Prem Singh Saini, an inventor from Pasiala village was recently honoured by the President of India, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The honour holds greater significance since Mr Prem Singh is a school dropout.

He has studied up to class VIII. He will return to his village from Delhi tomorrow where he will be accorded a warm welcome.

Incidentally, about two years ago, Chandigarh Tribune had published a write up on him. The story “School dropout into inventions” had highlighted his achievements.

The mood in his village is upbeat. The villagers are delighted over the honour bestowed upon him by the President for his inventions. “It is a matter of great pride for us,” a villager said.

Mr Saini’s younger brother, Mr Balram Singh, said his brother was awarded the “Rashtriya Navpravartak Purskar”, which includes a memento and Rs 50,000 in cash, at a function held in Delhi. The honour was bestowed on him the President “Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam,” he said. He said the Jaipur-based National Innovation Foundation was encouraging persons who had invented products, but did not get opportunity to showcase their talent. They heard about Prem Singh and saw his inventions.

The inventions were checked and tested by their team. The foundation then decided to honour him,” he said.

Mr Prem Singh Saini has invented an environment robot. It can easily identify water and oxygen. He has also invented a security system, besides inventing a method to check train accidents. His other inventions include a bank-security system, a method to cook vegetables automatically and an automatic bed-tea system.

Kurukshetra, December 21
The Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Mr R.S. Chaudhry, underlined the need for holding orientation courses in information technology for teachers. Mr Chaudhry was speaking at the valedictory function of the UGC sponsored orientation course being organised by Academic Staff College of the university.

The Director of Academic Staff College of the university, Prof P.D. Sharma, expressed gratitude to the UGC and the Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University for extending help to the college for organising such academic functions.

Dr R.P. Grover, Deputy Director of the college, disclosed that in all 38 participants from rural colleges of different states of the country attended the course.

The meet was inaugurated by Lieut-Gen S.S. Mehta, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command. Speaking on the occasion, General Mehta emphasised the importance of education in building a strong nation. He exhorted the teachers to imbibe in their students moral values, and asked the students to participate with a sportsman-like spirit.

On the opening day today, primary and middle school children from Cantonment Board Schools of Amritsar, Ferozepore, Jalandhar, Kasauli, Jutugh, Delhi and Ambala showcased their talent in different fields, including group dance, poetry, singing, dramatics and painting.

Chandigarh, December 21
The Haryana Roadways Workers Union, affiliated with the Sarv Karamchari Sangh, will observe “Protest Day” on December 23 by organising a rally at Rohtak. Stating this here today the President of the Chandigarh unit of the union, Mr Lal Chand, alleged that the government was not implementing demands of employees it had already accepted.

Mr Lal Chand said resentment had been brewing among the employees on account of dilly-dally attitude adopted by the Chautala government towards their demands. He alleged that the government was systematically eroding the profitability of the Roadways.

On the one hand, it was giving long-route permits to private operators, on the other it had allowed free travel facility to 22 categories in the Roadways buses. This directly affected the bonus of the employees, he claimed.

Sirsa, December 21
The Central Institute of Cotton Research, Nagpur, has developed a kit to check Bt cottonseed. This was disclosed by the institute’s Director, Dr C.D. Mayee, here today. He was here to address a kisan seminar on the CICR regional
station.

Dr Mayee claimed that this kit will be made available at different centres in the North and a special training of its use would be imparted to the farmers at the centre. He said trails of Bt cottonseed had been held at 10 places in Haryana, Punjab Rajasthan and UP.

Sirsa, December 21
December 23 brings memories of a traumatic accident for hundreds of people of Dabwali. The fumes of the Rajeev Marriage Palace fire tragedy that occurred seven years ago still rise in their
hearts.

Like every year, a sarva dharam prarthna sabha will be organised at the site. An Akhand path of Guru Granth Sahib and a path of the Ramayana was started
yesterday.

The Deputy Commissioner of Sirsa, giving the details of various relief, rehabilitation and memorial projects, said compensation worth Rs 4.35 crore had been given to 30 persons rendered handicapped and families of the 438 dead.